Discusses the use of special portapunch cards in the testing and grading of large student populations. The cards can be processed routinely at a batch station by laboratory staff having little knowledge of computers. The system not only allows cheap and reliable marking but also can accommodate a variety of tests. (JN)

Discusses David Wyatt's paper, "Computer-Assisted Teaching and testing of reading and Listening," focusing on the interactive computer testing of reading proficiency. Makes suggestions for the shape of an interactive diagnostic reading test and discusses software development and on-site delivery mechanisms of the tests. (SED)

Among the changes in education called for under the No Child Left Behind act is the need for states to test students in a number of grades and subject areas. Scores from these tests are to be used for a variety of purposes, from identifying whether individual students are proficient, to helping determine whether schools are causing adequate growth…

The purpose of this paper is to enumerate a series of security steps that might be taken by those researchers or organizations that are contemplating Web-based tests and performance assessments. From a security viewpoint, much of what goes on with Web-based transactions is similar to other general computer activity, but the recommendations here…

Two-stage and multistage test designs provide a way of roughly adapting item difficulty to test taker ability. This study incorporated testlets (bundles of items) into two-stage and multistage designs, and compared the precision of the ability estimates derived from these designs with those derived from a standard computerized adaptive test (CAT)…

Many arguments have been made against allowing examinees to review and change their answers after completing a computer adaptive test (CAT). These arguments include: (1) increased bias; (2) decreased precision; and (3) susceptibility of test-taking strategies. Results of simulations suggest that the strength of these arguments is reduced or…

This study was conducted to investigate the equivalence of scores from paper-and-pencil (P&P) tests and computerized tests (CTs) through meta-analysis of primary studies using both kinds of tests. For this synthesis, 51 primary studies were selected, resulting in 226 effect sizes. The first synthesis was a typical meta-analysis that treated…

This study investigated the applicability to computerized adaptive testing (CAT) data of a differential item functioning (DIF) analysis that involves an empirical Bayes (EB) enhancement of the popular Mantel Haenszel (MH) DIF analysis method. The computerized Law School Admission Test (LSAT) assumed for this study was similar to that currently…

This paper applies specific information item selection using a method developed by T. Davey and M. Fan (2000) to a multiple-choice passage-based reading test that is being developed for computer administration. Data used to calibrate the multidimensional item parameters for the simulation study consisted of item responses from randomly equivalent…

With the advent of computer-based testing (CBT) and the need to increase the number of items available in computer adaptive test pools, the idea of item variants was conceived. An item variant can be defined as an item with content based on an existing item to a greater or lesser degree. Item variants were first proposed as a way to enhance test…

The recent National Research Council (NRC) report, "Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment," suggests that it is time to rethink the basic assumptions underlying assessment of students and the use of measurement data to enhance teaching and learning. This essay draws on arguments developed in the NRC report to…

In a computerized adaptive test (CAT), it would be desirable to obtain an acceptable precision of the proficiency level estimate using an optimal number of items. Decreasing the number of items is accompanied, however, by a certain degree of bias when the true proficiency level differs significantly from the a priori estimate. G. Raiche (2000) has…

A method based on 0-1 linear programming (LP) is presented to stratify an item pool optimally for use in "alpha"-stratified adaptive testing. Because the 0-1 LP model belongs to the subclass of models with a network-flow structure, efficient solutions are possible. The method is applied to a previous item pool from the computerized…

Presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference in San Diego in May 2005. This presentation explores the issues and problems with declining response rates to the questionnaire once test registration moved from paper format to a web platform. A decline would affect research over time so interventions were put in place…

Describes computer programs designed to help students prepare for such tests as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Testing Program's ACT Assessment. Includes list of special benefits the computer can provide in several areas as well as reviews of several programs. (JN)